"Bobbee"

We have our own luck of the Irish. We call her Babs. Actually most of us do- Madi calls her "Bobbee or Babbee." We were luck enough to live close to Babs- who does not own a car- so the kids and I got to take her to church with us every week. We all loved having her with us. Every week the kids would ask, "Is Babs coming with us?" They were always thrilled when she came along. She added lots of sunshine even if there was rain. Babs is very talented at mimicking other people's voices and you can't help but giggle. She also has a great accent and at first you have to listen closely to her. The crazy thing is that Babs thought we were doing her a favor when really, she was adding so much to our lives. Babs works at Cadbury and insisted that she always give us chocolate- BAGS of it!


Babs and Madi


Time spent with Babs is a huge treat. NO chocolate necessary. We love you Babs! We will always think of you when we race Dad home after church!

The Global Feast

I am playing catch up! The next few blogs are from March and April 2010.

Every year, Sutton Park School has a Global Feast Day. Since the school has lots of international students, each family is encouraged to bring some type of food to celebrate. The kids love it because it's a non uniform day and they get to eat lots of fun (unhealthy) food. (There is always healthy food, but...)

The school looks amazing!

This is the front entry to the school.


I thought these flags were perfect together as I provided Snickerdoodles (go U-S-A!) and Enchiladas (Viva Mexico!).


A view of the front entry from the other direction.


Yum.


Sweet Claire with a pretty healthy selection of foods.


Shelby and Eline (Shelby's food- not so healthy. Too bad you can't see Jake's plate. It was loaded with cookies, cakes and cupcakes. Uggh.)


BFFs

Whenever it is a non-uniform day at Sutton Park, you have to pay for the privilege. The kids pay for their food, but all the proceeds go directly to the Chimteka Children Support (CCS). Chimteka is a cluster of villages in Malawi. I learned this on the CCS Website, "Malawi is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world with nearly 70% of the people below the poverty line. In recent years the country has been ravaged by famine and malnutrition and decimated by the scourge of aids. Nearly one third of the children under the age of five are HIV positive and 30% are orphaned." Sutton Park School has been working with the charity for several years. They've helped with digging wells, building a school and library. The kids told me that this year they were helping buy books for the library.

I love Global Feast Day because I think it is great that the kids get to try new foods and see some different cultures. I love that they teach my children about others who are not nearly as blessed. Our children are happy to give their money to this worthy cause and are so excited when they find out how much money was raised for the children of Chimteka. (Last year they raised 1,140 euros.) Thanks Sutton Park for supporting the children of Chimteka and helping make a difference. Thank you for helping my children see the world with different eyes. (Count your blessings. Name them one by one...)

Wii think it was the Ultimate Activity

For one of our youth activities we had a Wii night. We had three different wii consoles going at the same time in the same room. It was loud. It was crazy. It was GREAT!

Kirsten and Aidan- Mario Cart


Richie and Danny= COOL


Koko on the drums


Eoin and Stephen rock out on lego rockband


Claire, Madi, Rose, Em, Shelby and Alex ARE the Sing STARS


Kailey, Jake, Aidan and Terry...


Koketso and Terry drive on


Eoin and Jake are the karaoke kings



AND it was Eoin's 13th BDAY! What an amazing kid.

You guys are the best.

Getting there is Half the Battle

We have been planning our "last european adventure" since November. A Disney Cruise on the Mediterranean. However, recent events have made this little adventure a bit more interesting. Grandpa and Grandma Carrell were supposed to fly to Dublin on the 14^th of April. They made it 3 hours into their flight from Philadelphia and the plane had to turn around because of the volcano in Iceland that erupted. Ash issues. Danny was supposed to fly to NY on Sunday- but the Dublin Airport was closed (it had been closed since Thursday…) so- he stayed home (not that we were overly saddened by this). However, we were starting to get concerned- how would we get to Barcelona to get on the cruise if we couldn't fly? We went over the different possibilities- a ferry from Ireland to France (appx 20 hours) and then a 12 hour drive to Barcelona. The other option was a ferry to the UK and then train to London- eurostar through the chunnel (under the english channel) to Paris and then another train to Barcelona. The last option proved to be too expensive- so our only other option was the ferry and drive. I had this feeling that with our luck- our car would break down somewhere in the middle of France (most likely in the middle of the night) and we wouldn't make it to Spain in time to get on our boat. THANKFULLY- the ash was cleared enough so the Dublin Airport was opened. Then we decided to play it safe and fly out on Thursday instead of Friday evening. Better safe than sorry- right?

We made it to the airport, ate and headed through security. Then we saw the Parkins family (our good friends who are on the cruise with us) and they told us that they were worried at first because it said that there was a 6 hour delay! We all agreed that it was such a good thing that our flight was on time. THEN we found out that there actually was a delay- but just 4 hours…

WAITING! Lucas (with his back to us), Emery, Cara, Claire, Oscar and Madison. Moments after this photo was taken, Emery fell off the ledge and landed on her forehead. Ouch. (She's fine- just a nasty bruise.)


So what do 10 children do for 4 extra hours a the airport?

Play with new Strawberry Shortcake dolls. (Oscar thought this was great fun!) The girls thought the little dolls were pretty fun, too.


Jake watched a movie.


Shelby did some artwork.


Ipods and Nintendo DS's were very useful. We also walked around a bit and ate junk. The kids did great. It was a late night (we arrived in Barcelona at 2 a.m.) but we were so glad to arrive safe and sound and NOT have to drive and take the ferry!

London with Nancy

Nancy and I went to London and had a lovely time. Sadly- I took the worst photos of my entire life (almost). (In fact, Danny hasn't really let me take many pictures since then...)


Me and Nancy- Tower of London

Nancy with the Tower Bridge behind her. It was SOOOOO cold!


We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Chez Something (can't remember the real name of the restaurant) and then LOVED Wicked at the Apollo Victoria. (Sing it with me- Because I knew you- I have been changed... for good.)


Nancy on the London Eye with Big Ben behind her.


Still on the Eye- not that there's anything to see here...

London is great to visit. We enjoyed the hop on/hop off tour, the Beefeater at the Tower of London, and so enjoyed the soup that warmed us up!

Day 2 was filled with Hamleys Toy Store (they suck me in every time!), a brief visit to A & F (what I will do for my teenager), and views all around on the London Eye.

The best part? Getting back to the family in an hour (thanks Aerlingus) and having them actually miss me.

Irish Adventures with Nancy

My sister, Nancy, came to visit and we had such a great time. Sadly, for much of her visit the weather was COLD and yucky. There was even sleet and snow. One day she and I took the DART into Dublin and enjoyed a few hours exploring.


You don't usually see kegs of guinness on the cobblestone streets of Orem, Utah.

The whole family was going to go to the Wicklow Mountains, but we had car issues. Shelby was the only adventurous Carrell, so we took her and headed to the mountains.


Nancy and Shelby at the Powerscourt Gardens. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful place to explore.


Then we went to the Monastic Ruins in Glendalough. I love old sites like this and Glendalough is gorgeous. Glendalough (from the Irish - Glen of the two lakes) was originally started by St. Kevin in the 6th century. The buildings you see are from the 10th - 12th centuries.


Nancy and Shelby in the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul. Glendalough has 7 churches!


Shelby is sitting on the ledge under this cool window.


Now you can see how high up Shelby was.


This is another church- it's called St. Kevin's church or St. Kevin's Kitchen.


Me and Shelby in front of the Round Tower. It is 30 metres high- that's almost 100 feet!


Nancy and Shelby- if you look to the left of Nancy's head, there's a large cross. It is a high cross and legend has it, that if you can put your arms around the base of the cross and touch your fingers- you can have one wish.


Shelby with the ruins in the background. You can also see that the bridge over this little stream washed away.

Wicklow was wonderful and we had so much fun with just Shelby. What a fun day.

Note to self- Don't let the girls do this again!

Shelby, Claire and Emery have loved to play "rock climbing" lately. I knew it involved the bunk bed and loft bed- but I didn't really want to know anything more. Then, I found Shelby's camera with proof! Yikes. I promise, I really am a good mother.


Here is Claire in between the two beds. She is straddling the beds on a piece of fleece fabric that has been tied between the beds. (Think hammock here.)


Shelby is relaxing on the same fleece.


Now Shelby is hanging upside down! Thankfully, no one got hurt. We really are blessed and the girls had a ball. I hope they enjoy the memories because this will not be happening again!

Madi's Blessing Dress

Almost two years ago, Madison was blessed at our church. She wore a beautiful little white dress that grandma made. My mom has made each of my girls their own little white dress. When Madi wore hers- she was itty bitty. She found this dress hanging in my closet the other day. She wanted to try it on- so I let her!


The sad thing, is that I don't think I have a picture of her in this dress from when she was tiny. So, I'm glad we can see it on her!


I think she looks adorable in it.

Madison's Two!

I can hardly believe that our BABY is now two years old!

This is Miss Madi in her new Minnie dress up dress pushing her new stroller.
We love her.


Madi with Aunt Nancy. Madi likes to wear her swim cap along with her big sisters while they are swimming. It's her own little way of supporting them. This last week- she decided she needed goggles too.


This is my sweet Madi when she was just a newborn. We had just brought her home!


Madi was TINY! In fact, Jake still calls her Tiny. She has always loved her big brother.


However, now if you ask if Jake is a good boy or a bad boy, Madi always says, "Dakey a bad boy!" (But she says it with a smile.)


She is full of fun and LOADED with personality.


Miss Madi- two years old- two cakes- two candles in each cake.

Happy Birthday Madi! We are so thankful that you are part of our family!